Kelly O’Sullivan – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

THE GRADUATES – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

October 25, 2024October 26, 2024 Valerie Kalfrin Alex R. Hibbert, Ewan Manley, Hannah Peterson, John Cho, Kelly O’Sullivan, Maria Dizzia, Mina Sundwall, the graduates, Yasmeen Fletcher

Along with terror and trauma, school shootings sadly inspire their own genre, with films dramatizing these events or the lives of those in their wake. The elegiac drama The Graduates covers similar ground, dropping into a suburban Utah high school a year after a shooting, but this gentle, even hopeful film tiptoes up to viewers like someone wanting to offer comfort without reopening a wound. In its thoughtful, tender way, it transcends the flashpoints of such horror, embracing a broader view of grief and survival.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK June 14, 2024: GHOSTLIGHT

June 8, 2024July 9, 2024 Jennifer Merin Alex Thompson, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Dolly De Leon, Ghostlight, jennifer merin, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, Keith Kupferer, Kelly O’Sullivan, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, Movie of the Week, nikki fowler, Pam Grady, sandie angulo chen, sherin nicole, Tara Mallen

The crushing weight of grief and the healing power of theater are explored with touching authenticity in Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson’s poignant dramedy Ghostlight. As it gradually reveals the heartbreaking loss at the center of its main characters’ lives, the film shows how the impact of that loss has left them all reeling, unable to move forward until one of Shakespeare’s most iconic plays helps them find a way to process it together.

Reviews

GHOSTLIGHT – Review by Loren King

June 5, 2024June 8, 2024 Loren King Alex Thompson, Dolly De Leon, Ghostlight, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, Keith Kupferer, Kelly O’Sullivan, Tara Mallen

This tender drama about a family grappling with grief is a paean to the transformative power of theater. If that sounds lofty, Ghostlight is anything but. It’s grounded in believable, well defined characters led by Keith Kupferer as Dan Mueller, a father fumbling through life in the wake of a tragedy but who begins to comes alive when he stumbles upon a community theater troupe and gets cast in their production of Romeo and Juliet.

Reviews

GHOSTLIGHT – Review by Pam Grady

June 5, 2024June 8, 2024 Pam Grady Alex Thompson, Dolly De Leon, Ghostlight, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, Keith Kupferer, Kelly O’Sullivan, Tara Mallen

A distinguished Chicago theater family and The Triangle of Sadness’ Dolly De Leon unite in this cinematic tour de force in which grief finds an outlet in the mounting of a play. Construction worker Dan (Keith Kupferer) copes with the loss of a family member by not really coping at all. He’s barely hanging on at his job, is increasingly remote from his wife Sharon (played by Kupferer’s real-life partner Tara Mallen), and at odds with his troubled teen daughter Daisy (Katherine Mallen Kupferer, who is the real life daughter of Keith and Tara). What remains of his energy is reserved for a long-odds wrongful death lawsuit that will never make him whole again even if it succeeds.

Reviews

SAINT FRANCES – Review by Barbara Goslawski

November 15, 2020January 1, 2021 Barbara Goslawski Alex Thompson, Kelly O’Sullivan, saint frances

Saint Frances tackles some familiar issues in a refreshingly original way, exemplifying the importance of involving female voices in the telling of women’s stories. Written by star Kelly O’Sullivan and directed by Alex Thompson, Saint Frances dives deep into some of the most serious issues facing young women today and deftly invokes a distinctively lighthearted but compassionate vision of hope and healing.

Reviews

SAINT FRANCES – Review by Lois Alter Mark

March 26, 2020March 29, 2020 Lois Alter Mark 0 Comments Kelly O’Sullivan, Ramona Edith-Williams, saint frances

Every once in a long while, a movie comes along that touches you on some visceral and unexpected level. For me, that movie is Saint Frances. Kelly O’Sullivan, who wrote the beautiful screenplay, stars as Bridget, a lost thirtysomething year old spending a summer as a nanny to six-year-old Franny (played to perfection by Ramona Edith Williams).

Reviews

SAINT FRANCES – Review by Carol Cling

February 20, 2020February 21, 2020 Carol Cling 0 Comments Alex Thompson, Kelly O’Sullivan, Ramona Edith-Williams, saint frances

Growing up is hard to do. Especially when you’re 34 years old and everybody — including you — thinks you should have done it long ago. That’s the central premise of the quietly droll, slyly observant Saint Frances, which captured two prizes at last year’s SXSW Film Festival: an Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature and a Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Voice.